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This control unit, the Regloplas P160M, was developed by Regoplas USA (St. Joseph, Mich.) to heat and cool water, and then circulate that water through a mold plumbed for pressurized-water heating and cooling. In tests, autoclave cure of a part heated and cooled with the Regoplas system used 1/20th of the energy consumed during a conventional autoclave cycle on an identical composite part.
Source: Regoplas USA

A technician fastens plumbing attachments that will deliver pressurized water to pipes positioned beneath this test panel. The vacuum hose attachment is seen on top of the bagged layup.
Source: Regoplas USA

This photo, taken inside an autoclave, shows how vacuum ports in the pressure vessel were adapted to plumb the tool.
Source: Regoplas USA

A recent study by researchers from the University of British Columbia, Department of Materials Engineering, and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Nagoya Aerospace Systems (Nagoya, Japan), shows that airflow inside an autoclave is rarely uniform, and that heat transfer coefficient measurements made with rod calorimeters vary widely, particularly when comparing regions above and below a test tool. Despite these results, autoclaves are unlikely to be replaced at many companies because of the capital investment they represent. However, Regloplas USA (St. Joseph, Mich.) has demonstrated a method for overcoming poor temperature uniformity, says Kip Petrykowski, the company’s director of national sales, “and reducing autoclave cycle times, through the use of pressurized-water mold temperature controllers.”

The approach uses the vessel in concert with molds plumbed for pressurized-water heating. “Heated, pressurized water is proven as the most consistent and most energy-efficient method for heating tools, compared to air, steam, cartridge or oil heating,” Petrykowski claims. “And it’s been successfully qualified in commercial aircraft airframe part production.”

The results were striking: The autoclave alone consumed nearly 90 kW of energy over a 75-minute cure period, about 20 times the 4.3 kW of total energy consumed by the autoclave/heated-mold controller on the identical tool/part combination. “The greater energy use is due to heating a larger mass (the autoclave) and the reduced heat transfer value of the air/nitrogen used to heat the autoclave and mold as compared to the integrally plumbed tool with water heating,” explains Petrykowski. In addition, temperatures can be ramped up more than three times faster and temperature uniformity is more than 50 percent more precise with the water-heated mold than with the autoclave alone.

“The massive cooling capability of the pressurized water system is especially effective when applied to thick composite parts with the potential for exothermic reactions, and for rapid cycle production,” he adds. Further, heated-mold parts processed inside the autoclave showed mechanical properties as good as the autoclaved parts made without the Regloplas unit, based on coupon tests of the carbon plaques.

Petrykowski contends that existing vacuum ports on the autoclave can be readily disabled to allow for routing of the water hoses inside to the molds. And, existing metal tools can be retrofitted with plumbing to transition to heated-mold control. Notably, even composite tooling can be integrally plumbed with heating and cooling channels — a current Regloplas customer has done it, and is using the tool in production.